Two countries cheering for Singh

Earlier this year, Jatinder Singh was visiting his extended family in Ludhiana, India. He has the intention of returning to Oman a few days later to join the country's national squad. He was known as an Indian-origin Oman cricketer.

Singh told the Indian Express from Muscat, that competing here was a dream for every member of the team. When he couldn't fly to Oman owing to flying restrictions in March, he practiced at Malwa Cricket Club instead of CP Cricket Club until I received special clearance to fly to Muscat in June. He was sure about his extended family back home in India would have been applauding and delighted for him as he scored his greatest T20I score against PNG in the opening match for Oman.

Singh, together with his mother Paramjeet Kaur and three siblings, emigrated to Oman in 2003. Back in 1975, Singh's father Gurmail Singh immigrated to Oman to work as a carpenter at Royal Oman Police Force. The following year, Singh joined the Indian School in Muscat's cricket team, and he went on to play junior cricket for teams like Sidiq Jewellers before making his debut for the Oman U-19 cricket team as a wicket-keeper batsman in 2007. Singh spent the next few years playing for corporate teams including Gulf Cricket and Enhance Cricket, as well as working for Arabian Industries before joining Khimji Ram Das Company in 2014.

Singh has played in 19 One-Day Internationals and 29 Twenty-20 Internationals for Oman in the last six years, totaling 434 ODI runs and 770 T20I runs. Singh also achieved his first ODI century against Nepal last month, when he hit 107 runs off 62 balls. The century was the second-fastest by a batsman from an ICC associate nation, trailing only Irish batsman Kevin O' Brian.

Singh says that whenever he is representing Oman, he reminds his family that they now have two cricket teams to cheer for. He also had the opportunity to meet members of the Indian team during the 2015 Asia Cup, and it was a wonderful experience for him. Last month, he scored his first ODI century, which gave him confidence that he can do well on the international stage.

To advance to the second round, Oman would need to defeat Bangladesh, which could imply that the squad will encounter India later.